The virtues of this staging lie in individual performances and in the music-making, with the Royal Opera House Orchestra and chorus giving taut and committed interpretations under Antonio Pappano.... — BBC Music Magazine, January 2018, ***More…

About

Star soprano Sonya Yoncheva sings the towering role of Bellini’s Norma – a priestess torn between love and duty – in a timeless tale of love and betrayal, set in a fanatically religious and war-torn modern society. The spectacular production by Àlex Ollé for The Royal Opera also stars Joseph Calleja as Norma’s former lover Pollione, leader of the forces occupying her country, Brindley Sherratt as her domineering father Oroveso, and Sonia Ganassi as Adalgisa, her greatest friend and unwitting rival in love. Royal Opera Music Director Antonio Pappano leads this superb cast, the Royal Opera Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in one of the greatest works of the bel canto repertory.

Reviews

January 2018

The virtues of this staging lie in individual performances and in the music-making, with the Royal Opera House Orchestra and chorus giving taut and committed interpretations under Antonio Pappano. Sonya Yoncheva provides a remarkably accomplished traversal of the intimidating title-role, combining poise with a realisation of the tragic scale involved. Joseph Calleja makes an eloquent Pollione.

***

January 2018

Yoncheva is fearless although not flawless…Her ‘Casta diva’, delivered as a wistful daydream of lost love, convinces, and Yoncheva’s seductive tone is consistently beguiling…Pappano is in typically robust form…and you can admire how orchestra and chorus capture a heady, even cloying quality to Bellini’s rapt score…Calleja is in good voice, a generous and graceful singer who generates genuine pathos.